In various manufacturing operations, workers are supplied with garments such as overalls or other forms of overclothes. These garments become soiled during the course of work. Typically, these garments require laundering after each wearing. Exemplary of this is car manufacturing plants. The exterior paint layer of a car forms an integral part of the car's anticorrosion systems. To ensure the proper formation of the exterior paint layer, cars are typically painted in strictly controlled environments. Since small particulates can compromise the integrity of the paint, workers in the paint facilities wear overclothes which are supplied by the manufacturer to prevent, or limit, the contamination of the environment. Typically, these garments become soiled with paint and, by the end of each shift, the garments require laundering.
Various processes have been developed to launder such garments. For example, paint soiled garments may be collected and sent to a commercial laundry where they may be washed in a detergent containing bleach or an alkali solution. These garments are then returned to the paint spray facility. One difficulty with such processes is that they do not thoroughly clean the garments. The washed garments will generally still contain residual paint. Such residue reduces the useful life of the garment. Over a course of several washings, this residual paint will continue to build up. Typically, such garments are used and washed only about 30 times before they are discarded.